Fluid cleaning apparatus



Jan. 2, 1934- A. H. BENESH 1,942,331

FLUID CLEANING APPARATUS Original Filed Feb. 3, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l Jan. 2, 1934. A. H. BENESH FLUID CLEANING APPARATUS Original Filed Feb. 3, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 All/M H Beneah Patented Jan. 2 1934 PATENT OFFICE FLUID CLEANING APPARATUS Alvin H. Benesh, St. Paul, Minn., assignor to Chain Belt Company, Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Original application February 3, 1930, Serial No.

425,623. Divided and this application September 18, 1931. Serial No. 563,621

5 Claims.

This invention relates to fluid cleaning apparatus particularly (although notsolely) adapted for traveling water screens and the like, and has for one of its objects to improve certain of the prior devices of this character which have been heretofore proposed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel arrangement of projectors of the type described and claimed in my co-pending application filed February 3, 1930, Serial No. 425,623 entitled Fluid cleaning apparatus for traveling water screens and the like, of which this application is a division, whereby a solid wall or sheet of fluid may be caused to impinge upon the surface to be cleaned in an unbroken line.

'While the projectors described and claimed in my said co-pending application are adapted for use in a single series to produce a single wall of water, the invention also includes the projecting of cleaning water in two solid thin walls at acute angles to each other, and to the screen or other surface, in order to thoroughly cleanse the latter. That is to say, two series of projectors are set at an angle to each other in such manner that the water from one set strikes the screen at an acute angle in one direction and water from the second set strikes the screen at an acute angle in the opposite direction so that any fibres or other material clinging to the surface being cleaned are bent downwardly by the first said projectors, and then bent upwardly and thrown off of the surface by the second set of projectors. The two sets of projectors are so arranged that the water from one set crosses the water from the second set, but there is no interference between the two solid streams of water.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel details of construction and combinations of parts more fully hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification in which like reference characters designate like parts in all the views:--

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a traveling water screen of well known construction illustrating one application of the present invention thereto;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of a portion of the screen shown in Figure 1 as seen from the left of the said figure;

Figure 3 is an enlarged diagrammatic sectional elevational view illustrating the manner of mounting the two sets of projectors so as to cause streams or sheets of fluid projected thereby to cross one another and to impinge on the screen or other surface to be cleaned in diiferent directions; and.

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic plan view of the parts shown in Figure 3.

As an illustrative embodiment of the foregoing, as applied to a water screen, for example, reference is now made to the accompanying drawings in which there is shown somewhat diagrammatically in Figures 1 and 2 an endless traveling water screen 15 comprising a series of screen surfaces 16 carried by chain links 17 which pass about head sprockets 18 which are adapted to be driven by a motor 19 through a belt or chain 20 as is well known in the art. As the screen surfaces 16 become clogged with refuse strained from the water which is being screened, they are raised through the operation of the motor 19 thus bringing clean surfaces into position to continue the screening uninterruptedly.

For the purpose of dislodging the refuse from the surfaces 16 as they are lifted, there is provided a supply pipe 21 leading from any suitable source of water supply and which may be controlled by the valve 22. Said pipe is usually mounted behind the screen surfaces 16 as shown in Figures 1 and 2 and is tapped at spaced intervals for the reception of a plurality of nozzles or projectors 25 which are preferably of the type shown and'claimed in my said copending application Ser. No. 425,623 and which are adapted to discharge water or other fluid against the rear of the said surfaces 16 to dislodge the refuse therefrom. The water and refuse are received in a trough 24 from which they are led to any suitable place of disposal.

While as above stated the projectors 25 are adapted for use in a single series, it has been found that they are especially adapted for use in a double series such as shown in detail in Figures 3 and 4 so that two solid sheets of clean water or other fluid may be projected against the surface to be cleaned in different directions. As clearly shown in the last mentioned figures, the supply pipe 21 is tapped for the reception of two rows of sets 40 and 41 of the projectors 25, which are arranged at a substantial angle to one another around the circumference of the pipe. The projectors of the set 40 are staggered longitudinally of the pipe relative to those of the set 41, and those of the set 40 are arranged to discharge their fluid at a downward angle while those of the set 41 are arranged to discharge at an upward angle.

The planes in which these different discharges are directed intersect along the line A of Figures 3 and 4 but since the sheets of discharged fluid have not diverged sufficiently to overlap at this line of intersection, there is no interference between the crossing sheets and each sheet continues without interruption to its line of impingement against the screen surfaces 16 of the baskets, as clearly indicated in Figure 3. The divergence of the sheets is such that they begin to overlap, when viewed in plan, along the line B of Figures 3 and 4 and this divergence continues until at or just before the sheets strike the surfaces 16, the individual sheets of each set of projectors join, whereby there is provided along each line of impingement, a solid wall or sheet of water under considerable pressure and without any substantial amount of spray which effectively dislodges the refuse or other matter from the surfaces 16 and carries it into the trough 24 as above described.

Actual experiments have clearly demonstrated that the double arrangement of projectors substantially as illustrated is particularly effective where there is a large amount of refuse collected, which becomes entangled with the elements of the screen. While it is customary to employ water pressure in these devices, obviously other fluids such, for example, as steam or compressed air, may be employed if desired, and other surfaces than those of traveling water screens may be cleaned.

As set forth in my said co-pending application the projectors 25 obtain a maximum efficiency, since they cause a minimum amount of fluid to act upon a maximum area of screen or other surface to be cleaned, in solid flat walls and with a force at the point of contact which is diminished but slightly from the theoretical force corresponding to the pressure in the supply pipe 21. It thus results that. lower pressures may be used in this pipe than has been heretofore practicable with previous types of spray nozzles, which have materially reduced the pressure of thevwater at impact, rendering necessary higher initial pressures to obtain the desired force.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction as well as the precise arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention, and therefore it is not wished to be limited to the above disclosure except as may be required by the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a fluid cleaning apparatus for traveling water screens and the like, a supply pipe; and two sets of spaced fluid projectors for discharging fluid from said pipe, the projectors of one set being staggered relative to those of the other set and arranged to discharge fluid in a plane which crosses that of the other set, whereby the surface to be cleaned is subjected to the action of two separate sheets of cleaning fluid which impinge upon it in different directions.

2. In a fluid cleaning apparatus for traveling water screens and the like, a supply pipe; and two sets of spaced fluid projectors for discharging fluid from said pipe, the projectors of each set being staggered relative to those of the other and arranged to discharge fluid in diverging flat sheets in planes which cross before the divergence is suflicient to cause the sheets from one set to interfere with those of the other set, whereby the surface to be cleaned is subjected to the action of two separate sets of sheets impinging upon it in different directions.

3. In a fluid cleaning apparatus for traveling water'screens and the like, a supply pipe; and two sets of spaced fluid projectors for discharging fluid from said pipe, the projectors of each set being staggered relative to those of the other and arranged to discharge fluid in diverging flat sheets in planes which cross before the divergence is sufficient to cause the sheets from one set to interfere with those of the other set, whereby the surface to be cleaned is subjected to the action of two separate sets of sheets impinging upon it in different directions, the said projectors being located to cause the separate sheets of each set to combine at substantially the line of contact with the surface to provide an unbroken flat wall of cleaning fluid at such line.

4. In a fluid cleaning apparatus for traveling water screens and the like, a supply pipe; and a plurality of fluid projectors carried thereby in sets arranged to discharge non-interfering crossing streams of cleaning fluid which strike the surface to be cleaned as unbroken solid sheets at divergent angles.

5. The method of removing refuse and deposits from the surfaces of traveling water screens and the like, which comprises projecting toward the surface to be cleaned a plurality of crossing streams of cleaning medium which impinge upon said surface from different directions as unbroken solid sheets.

ALVIN H. BENESH.

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